Meet a Student

Jonathan Miers '07 M'11

Jonathan Miers earned his master’s degree in 2011 and has landed a position with GoAbroad.com, a firm that helps facilitate study abroad programs and other international student travel experiences.

Recently Jonathan accepted an offer to serve for two years in the company’s Philippine office. He credits North Central with preparing him to meet the new challenges of his career. “For me, the biggest adjustment has been dealing with cultural differences,” he says. “For instance, in the Philippines, employees tend to be very team oriented, so you need to adjust how you compensate them (individually versus collectively). They also tend to regard bosses differently than American employees do; managers need to approach them gently and avoid aggressively negative feedback.

“In my classes, Dr. Moussetis did an excellent job of helping us understand how to adapt to different cultural settings. The skill sets I developed have made it possible for me to be well-received by the Filipino employees I manage. The MIBA will help students develop the resources they need to work in environments that are dramatically different from what they’re used to.”